Refrigerator



(N0 Model.)

S. A. HOSMER.

Refrigerator.

Patented April 19,1881;

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N.PE!ERS. PHDTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SILAS A. HOSMER, OF CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,415, dated April 19, 1881.

Application filed August 30,1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SILAs A. HosMER, of Concord, in the county of lVliddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to refrigerators in which an air-tight preserving chamber or receptacle is employed having means for exhausting or rarefying the air contained therein, so as to produce a partial vacuum, and consequently a reduced temperature and acondition of dryness in said chamber.

It is well known that under ordinary conditions the moisture contained in the air-cells of meat is an active agent in causing decay, and that in dry air meat will remain pure for a much longer time than in air charged with moisture, the dry air tending to absorb the moisture contained in the meat, and thus retardin g decay.

In the ordinary ice-refrigerators as applied to cars, it is frequently necessary during transportation from the West to the markets of the East to replenish the stock of ice several times. In these cars, also, the air after coming in contact with the melting ice passes over the contents of the refrigerator and deposits more or less moisture thereon. Both these objections to the use of the ordinary refrigerators for the long transportation of meat are obviated by my invention, which consists in the provision, in refrigerators, and especially in refrigeratorcars employing air-tight chambers, of means whereby the chamber is protected from the heat of the surrounding air, and ice is enabled to be used for further reducing the temperature in the chamber without imparting moisture to the contents thereof.

To these ends my invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a refrigerator-car embodying my invention, taken upon line y y, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of same car upon line 00 w, Fig.1.

In these figures similar letters refer to the same parts.

In the drawings, A represents an outer casing, in thisinstance an ordinary box-car, within which is an iron con1partment,-B, so built as to leave an air-space, a, between its walls and roof and the walls and roof of the car A. This compartment B is to be so constructed as to be air-tight and form a vacuum-chamber within the car.

Doors G O in the compartment B, and opposite the doors D D of the car, give access to the interior of the vacuum-chamber. These doors 0 G will overlap their respective dooropenings, and will have their overlapping edges ground so as to be air-tight when closed, and will be provided with suitable rubber packing to insure this result.

Pipes P P at the ends of the car communicate with the-interior of the compartment B for use in exhausting the air from said com partment, and these pipes are closed by the stop-cocks d (1.

At each end of the compartment B are built metallic chambers E E E E. These chambers are open at the top, and communicate with the air-space a surrounding the compartment B. Over the top of each chamber E is a door or hatch, H, in the roof of the car A. Within each chamber E is constructed a hollow metallic cone, F, open at the top, and having an orifice, O, at the bottom communicating with the outer air.

The operation is as follows: Meat being placed within the compartment B the doors 0 G are closed, and also the doors D D of the car. An air-pump is then applied to the pipes P P until a partial vacuum is produced within the compartment B. The effect of the exhaustion of the air from B will be to reduce the temperature within the compartment, and by this means the required degree of temperature maybe obtained therein for the proper preservation of its contents. The air removed from the compartment by this process will also carry away much of the moisture contained in the air-cells of the meat, and thus assist its preservation. When the desired vacuum is produced the stop-cocks d d are closed and the air-pump removed. The contents of the car are now ready for transportation and may be kept unaltered for many days. The airspace a protects the chamber B from the heat of the sun and the surroundin gatmosphere, and

thus materially aids in the preservation of the contents of the compartment. Practical tests extending for thirty-six days have demonstrated the efficacy of this mode of preserving meats in vacuum.

Should an accident occur to the vacuumchamber, such as would allow the air to enter, or in case it is desired to further reduce the temperature within said chamber, the chambers E are to be filled with ice through the doors H in the roof of the car. The cold air from these chambers entirely surrounds the compartment B by means of the air-space, a. This air does not at any time come in contact with the contents of the compartment, but passes out through the hollow cones F and the orifice O. The contents of the compartment B will therefore be kept perfectly dr and it is not necessary to open said compartment for any purpose until the car reaches its destination. For the use of ice a refrigerator-car so constructed presents these great advantages over those in ordinary use, because it enables a very low temperature to be maintained Without involving the contact of moisture-laden air with the articles to be preserved.

Though my invention is especially applicable to refrigerator-cars, as herein described, I do not thus limit its use, as it may be advantageously employed in any refrigerator for household or other uses.

I am aware that a vacuum-chamber has been employed as a refrigerator; hence I do not claim such a chamber broadly.

I claim 1. In arefrigerator-car, a practically air-tight chamber or receptacle, B, provided with an air outlet or outlets adapted to be connected to an exhausting apparatus and to be hermetically closed, combined with a surrounding air-space, whereby the chamber B is protected from the heat of the surrounding atmosphere, as set forth.

2. In a refrigerator, a practically air-tight chamber or receptable, B, provided with an air outlet or outlets adapted to be connected to airexhausting apparatus and to be hermetically closed, combined with a surrounding dead-air space and an ice receptacle or receptacles communicating with said air-space, whereby the low temperature in the chamber B resulting from the exhaustion of air therefrom can be still further reduced, and the contents of the said chamber can be preserved in case the latter should cease to be air-tight, as set forth.

3. In a refrigerator-car, the combination of a vacuum-chamber, B, a surrounding, air-space, a, ice-chambers E, communicating with the space a, and tubes or cones F, extending from the air-space to the outside air, whereby when the car is in motion currents of air are induced from the chambers E into and through the space a.

4. The process herein described of preserving articles of food, the same consisting in placing the articles in a practically air-tight chamber, rarefying the air therein and surrounding said chamber with air having its temperature artificially reduced, as set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification, in the presence'of two subscribing witnesses, this th-day of August, A.

I SILAS A. HOSMER.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN E. BARTLETT, J. GRANVILLE HUNTON. 

